Language Diversity in the Classroom - ymerleksi - home

Bilingualism: A Very Brief Overview 239accounts of this in the literature (e.g. Leopold, 19391949; Ronjat, 1913).Given the continuing reservations about bilingualism in some parts ofthe popular (anglophone) mind, it should be noted that the literaturestrongly suggests that general linguistic and mental development is notadversely affected. Bringing up children bilingually is not a riskybusiness. Where negative consequences have been observed, these arealmost always due to social, personal, cultural or other factors, and not tobilingualism per se. With appropriate social conditions, then, bilingualismis just as ‘natural’ as monolingualism; statistically speaking, indeed,it is much more natural. With sufficient motivation and opportunity, allnormally intelligent people can learn another variety, and those whoclaim they are ‘no good’ at foreign languages are usually lacking one orboth of these. This is not to deny that there may exist individuals whohave a greater innate or acquired aptitude: a ‘good ear’ may be helpful,as well as a good memory and a capacity for self-initiated application;beyond these, adaptability and genuine interest in other cultures are nodoubt important. But these factors are all of general value and do notform a package specifically implicated in language learning and in anyevent they are dwarfed by contextual pressures and demands.There are many formal methods for teaching languages. Generallyspeaking, older approaches tended to stress the memorization ofgrammatical rules and lexicon in the service of literary study, and littleattention was given to oral language. In more contemporary schoolsettings this has changed, although even high-tech language laboratoriessometimes merely individualize older approaches, rather than signallinga change of course towards more conversational competence. Still, whileit remains difficult for the classroom to become a representation of thestreet, the tendency is for more and more conversation. Students areencouraged to speak before learning formal grammar, and the use ofthe maternal variety is often kept to a minimum; in short, secondlanguageacquisition is meant to resemble first-language learning asmuch as possible.A number of theoretical perspectives inform language-acquisitionpractices, and I shall merely touch upon them here. Social-psychologicaltheories have paid particular attention to motivational features, and thismakes a good deal of sense. If we agree that language is a social activity,and if we accept that almost everyone is cognitively capable of learningsecond (and subsequent) varieties, then it follows that the force of thesituation and the attitudinal atmosphere are central. The distinction thatI have already mentioned between instrumental and integrative motivationsfor second-language learning was first drawn in the 1960s. The